A Little Help and Lots of Love
by slashtasticsam
Summary: Tony's mother decides to get involved in her son's love life. After all, the son of Aphrodite shouldn't be miserable on Valentine's Day.


**Title: **A little help and lots of love.

**Author:** slashtasticsam

**Fandom: **NCIS. 0_0 Finally!

**Pairing: **Gibbs/Dinozzo

**Rating: **PG-13 (Boy Kisses :D )

**Warnings: **Cheesy premise, egregious misuse and abuse of mythology, general clichéd-ness which I would otherwise despise. Oh, and slash of the most mild kind. ;D

**Summary: **Based on a prompt from kaylashay81: "Tony's mother decides to get involved in her son's love life. After all, the son of Aphrodite shouldn't be miserable on Valentine's Day."

**A/N: **Written for Valentine_Gibbs 2012. It kind of took on a life of its own. And now it's nearly 6 in the morning on Valentine's Day, I have class in seven hours and I'm not even halfway done with this yet. AGH! But, I'm really liking where this is going, and I do NOT want to rush it. Hopefully it turned out well? Let me know in the comments.

**LJG/TD**

Tony sat mournfully on his lumpy couch, drinking a beer. He tried not to think about how many empty bottles sat on his coffee table, and willfully ignored how depressing his silent apartment was. The lack of dark room was beginning to hurt his eyes, but Tony refused to get up and turn on the lights. He didn't even have the mind numbing distraction of a movie to cheer him up. He didn't want anyone he knew to come by his apartment and see any lights on. If they did, they would know how utterly pathetic he was being. Sitting at home alone, drinking his weight in beer, on Valentine's Day.

For the first time since Tony discovered the joys of a warm body next to his, he was alone on Valentine's Day. Sometimes he'd have a date that night. Maybe a nice girl he'd been seeing for a couple weeks. But mostly he'd journey to the clubs, taking advantage of the unclaimed bodies looking for a little action on the day of love.

This year he hadn't been dating anyone. Actually, he hadn't had a date for more than a while. A lot longer than he was willing to admit, even to himself. He hadn't felt like going to the clubs either. The last few years he'd grown weary of the tint of desperation that surrounded such places. It felt even more depressing than sitting at home when women threw themselves at him for just one night of attention. He didn't want to be alone, but he didn't want to be that type of person either.

Tony'd never much cared for this particular holiday. The fake cardboard decorations and the overwhelming amount of red and pink glitter mad him wince as he went grocery shopping. He tried to ignore the innumerable couples that lined the streets, cooing and fawning over each other whilst exchanging cheap gifts and cheaper sentimentality. He'd never actively avoided the holiday before, but this year he felt it an insult to himself to pretend he was anything other than disgusted with it, no matter his mother's fondness for the day.

If Tony was feeling more himself he might have called one of his casual flings, maybe he could have at least gotten off instead of sulking in his apartment. As it was, Tony hadn't made much of an effort to keep in contact with any of those women as of late. They'd probably be more offended than flattered at his abrupt contact. He'd thought about getting a hold of some of his frat buddies for a get together of some sort, but the truth was that all of those buddies were in their early forties now. Most, if not all of them were in steady relationships and had grown out of their party days. If Tony was honest with himself he had grown out of them too.

Tony didn't know when he decided to become responsible, he thought it might have been when he finally admitted to himself that he was getting older. It hadn't struck him as odd that he was still acting like a frat boy when he was in his early thirties; he was young still and had a life to live. He hadn't wanted to settle down, not really. Settling down meant slowing down. Tony equated commitment to giving up. Ever since Wendy he hadn't even thought about it, not even with Jeanne. But now, Tony knew he was in trouble when he started to imagine himself on his wedding day. He imagined having a home, a real permanent home with two names on the deed.

These delusions weren't the mot worrying of Tony's imaginings. The part that really worried him, that made him lose sleep at night and stay at home on Valentine's Day, was the identity of the person he imagined with him in those dreams. For several months now Tony had been unable to stop thinking about Gibbs. Tony felt so completely idiotic for falling for his straight as a pin, thrice divorced, self-proclaimed bastard of a boss.

It wasn't the fact that it was Gibbs that bothered Tony. His Boss was a good man, despite his sometimes harsh attitude. In fact, Tony was glad that out of all of his co-workers he had fallen for the one person he could truly say was the best man he'd ever met. The part that bothered him was that he just had t fall for the one person on earth that was perfect for him, and yet completely off limits.

He'd never been in this situation before. Oh sure, he'd dated people that most would put in the category of off limits (co-workers, his boss's daughter in Peoria), but he'd never really had to limit himself that way before. Or else he's never really felt the need to, even if he should have. In this case he didn't see any way for it to work out in his favor no matter how he looked at it. And the worst part is, is that he's serious about this one. He'd always run scared of commitment before, but this time he wished commitment onto a relationship that would never exist. Tony found it more than a little depressing.

Tony sighed as he finished the last swallow of his beer before setting it on the table with all the other empty bottles. We watched blankly as a drop of condensation made its way down the brown glass to drop onto his coffee table.

He began to think it might be okay to watch some T.V. If anyone noticed he was home and commented about it, he could always say that his date if the night didn't go well. Maybe his girl was some kind of stalker, with a really high pitched voice and man hands.

While Tony was imagining some increasingly improbable situations from his fake date, he failed to notice the sound of a key turning in the lock and his door opening.

"Darling, what _are_ you doing?" Tony jumped up off the couch in surprise and landed hard on the floor.

Tony was so into his imaginary date that he looked up expecting to see the stalker he had created in his head.

"Mom?" Tony blinked stupidly for a few seconds, thinking he was seeing things. "What are you doing here?"

Before him stood his mother, radiant as always with glistening curls of golden hair and bright green eyes. Today she was wearing a very flattering pastel pink pantsuit, cut modernly on top of a white lacy camisole. Very Valentines-esque, Tony thought snarkily as he pulled himself back up onto the couch.

"Why do you think I'm here, Darling," She huffed sarcastically. "My own son, home alone on this, the most wonderful of holidays? A tragedy!"

Tony rolled his eyes at his mother's melodrama. She was always this dramatic; after all she'd had thousands of years to perfect it.

"It's not a big deal Mom," Tony denied. "It's just a holiday like any other."

"Just any holiday?" She fairly shrieked. "It's only the most romantic day of the year! A day, might I remind you, which was modeled after myself!"

"Actually, it was invented by Hallmark and modeled after St. Valen-."

"Based on an emotion that I invented!" She did have a point.

Because, of all the crazy things involved in Tony's life, the most incredible and unbelievable of all is the identity of his mother. Thousands of years ago they called her Aphrodite; in this life she calls herself Danielle. Tony just calls her Mom.

It seemed strange to think that the ancient God's that ruled the earth so long ago were still around. At least, as far as they knew. Danielle hadn't been in contact with any of her true family for several centuries. It was hard to keep in touch when seeing each other just reminded you how long you've been around.

The God's and Goddesses had lost the majority of their supernatural powers long before the world at large stopped believing in them. The only things that remained were their other-worldly beauty and their immortality. Each had left Olympus thousands of years ago in search of having a normal life. What they found was that they had to have several different lives, when the people involved in one life began to become suspicious of their eternal youth the God or Goddess had to end that life and find a new one elsewhere.

In her many lives Aphrodite had sired several children, each of whom she loved very much. But she had never told any of them her true identity. It was hard to explain something as complicated as immortality, and she had been hurt many times when she tried to tell someone her secret. It was hard to fake her death or disappearance after only 10-15 years in one life, but if she stayed too long someone would become suspicious. She had to watch from afar as her children and spouses mourned for her, and eventually grow old without her.

No one had ever discovered her secret until Tony. Tony had always been a very curious child. He always wanted to know how things worked, and what they meant. He would often observe people and notice things that others would have looked over or explained away. What Tony noticed the most about his Mom, was that she never had wrinkles. Not even when his friends' Moms began to get gray hair and wrinkles, his mother always looked perfect and beautiful. He also noticed that when she talked, she sometimes used old words like in some of his favorite classic movies.

Danielle had taught Tony about the Gods and Goddesses from the time he was very little. Tony grew up with all kinds of stories of the Gods, some of which his mother told him that he could never find in any book. As he grew older, he began to see how obsessed his Mom was with the Greek Gods, and putting that together with her inability to age and her passion for love and beauty, Tony came to the conclusion that his mother was one of the Goddesses.

Danielle was shocked when Tony told her of his conclusions. At first she deflected the assumption as childish imagination, but as Tony grew older she noticed his skill for deductive reasoning and began to hope. She thought that maybe Tony could be the first of her loved ones that she shared her secret with. Eventually she sat him down and explained her story. She shared with him who she really was and how she'd been roaming the earth for such a long time. Tony exceeded her expectations. Not only did he believe her then, but he continued to do so into his adult years. Even after she had to fake her own death, and he was stuck living with his con-artist of a father, he understood who she was and accepted it.

Now, she wished she still retained more of her powers. Her son had fallen in love without her guidance. She could see it in the shine of his eyes and the miserable set of his mouth. She may be unable to make others fall in love any longer, but she could still recognize it when it was displayed in front of her. And from all the people Tony had mentioned to her in their monthly conversations, she could bet who it was that had stolen her son's heart.

Danielle swept the pile of bottles on the table into her arms, and quickly carried them off to the kitchen. "It doesn't matter who the holiday was created for, dear. All that matters is that you're wasting it!"

Tony slumped down into the cushions and sighed dejectedly. He knew that look in his mother's face. She'd figured out what was bothering him and was planning to meddle in it. Well, he'd just have to make it clear he didn't want her help.

A few moments later Danielle came back out with a large mug of instant coffee and a bottle of water, which she set in front of her son.

"Drink both of those, darling. You'll need to be sober for tonight."

Tony glanced up at the wall clock. It was only 5:46 and he was already drunk and moping on his couch. A new record, even for him.

Tony sat up slowly, wincing as his vision swam nauseatingly.

Tony nursed his coffee as his mother walked purposefully into his bedroom. He could hear her opening his closet doors and rooting through his clothes.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Tony asked.

"Looking for an outfit for you." She replied smoothly.

"What for?" Tony rolled his eyes at his useless question. He knew exactly what she had in mind.

"For when you tell him you love him, of course!"

Tony choked on hid coffee in surprise. He coughed into the sleeve of his sweatshirt as his eyes watered. He hadn't expected his mother to be that blunt about it. He should have known better.

"Mom! How did you-?" He stopped his sentence as she popped her head out of his bedroom door with the most incredulous look on her face. "Never mind."

Danielle went back to her searching. "Tony, sweet-heart, where is that green shirt I got you for Christmas last year?"

Tony winced as he remembered the fate of that particular shirt. "It got ruined at a crime scene," he replied.

"But it was Gucci!" Came Danielle's shocked reply.

"I know, Mom."

Danielle continued to mutter as she rustled through the rest of Tony's closet.

"Mom, you don't need to look for something for me to wear." Tony muttered.

"And why not, dear? Did you have something in mind?"

Tony scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I don't need something to wear, because I'm not going to tell him."

The sounds Danielle was making stopped abruptly. Tony's apartment was silent for a moment as he waited for the eruption.

He wasn't disappointed as Danielle came stomping out of his room. "What do you mean you aren't going to tell him?" She shouted.

"I mean I'm not going to tell him because he doesn't need to know. He wouldn't want to know," Tony studied his hands and tried not to look at his mother.

"Anthony Dinozzo," Danielle sternly reprimanded. "Who are you to decide what he does, and does not want to know?"

Tony opened his mouth to reply, but Danielle cut him off.

"He has just as much right to decide for himself what he feels as you do," Tony looked at her, wide eyed. "The only person you're hurting by not telling him, is yourself. If you don't take this chance, you will only make yourself more miserable. Telling him might get you hurt, but you'll be hurt whether you tell him or not. It's up to you to take a chance, and maybe find what you're looking for."

"But he's my boss!" Tony protested. "And rule twelve-."

"Has never stopped you from dating a co-worker before. Or him, for that matter." Tony conceded the point.

"Take a chance, sweet-heart," Danielle brushed a stray hair from Tony's brow. "That's what love is about, and I should know."

Tony smiled at her weekly and shook his head.

Danielle smiled at him amicably and pulled him from the couch. "Go take a shower darling, and I'll find your outfit."

Tony numbly allowed her to usher him to the shower. As he stepped under the hot spray, he felt way more sober than he would have liked to. This was going very fast, and he was afraid the situation was getting out of hand. He really didn't have any intention of telling Gibbs he was in love with him. What good would it do? Tony had met nearly all of Gibbs' exes and he wasn't even close to his type. He knew this whole effort was pointless and would only end in him getting hurt. But his mother, despite her experiences, was ever the optimist when it came to love. She didn't understand how an emotion that was crafted so perfectly could hurt anyone so much.

Of course Tony did have a tiny spark of hope that Gibbs could love him. Tony didn't believe that people could truly fall in love if they didn't have at least a smidgeon of hope. But, in Tony's case his hope was mostly baseless. Despite his boss' sometimes affectionate behavior towards him, he was also so completely closed off to him. He had so many secrets and mysteries that he would never share with Tony. Sometimes Tony felt like they were hardly even acquaintances with the extremely small amount of information that Gibbs had ever willingly shared with him.

Tony mechanically washed his body as he thought of excuses that would get his mother to give up on forcing him to tell his boss. As futile as an endeavor as it was, Tony felt as though he needed the stability of trying to get out of it. When he was clean, Tony stepped out of the shower and died off. Tying the towel around his waist, he wandered into his bedroom where his Mom had set out his outfit.

On his bead lay a soft, navy blue, thin cashmere shirt, and a pair of designer jeans that did wonders for his ass.

Tony raised his eyebrow at his Mother's smug expression. "I figured you would go for something more themed, like red or pink."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "Your complexion clashed horribly with red, and while I think you could pull off something pink I figured you would be much more comfortable in blue."

Tony nodded absentmindedly, and before he could try one of his excuses his Mother had herded him back into the bathroom with the clothes in his arms.

"Get dressed quickly, dear. You wouldn't want to waste any more of the night than you already have. I'll call you a cab."

Before he could protest, the bathroom door was firmly shut behind him and he stood alone in the bathroom with an armful of clothes.

Tony sighed and decided to get dressed, if only to make it less awkward for himself when he told his mom he wasn't going.

Tony was beginning to get dressed when he noticed that his Mom hadn't supplied him with underwear. Feeling too lazy to go search for some, he pulled on his pants without them. He'd have to go commando until his Mom left and he could go to bed.

Tony stepped out of the bathroom in time to hear his mom get off the phone with the cab company. When she hung up she turned around to see him standing there and smiled broadly.

"You look wonderful, my dear!" She exclaimed, smoothing some of the wrinkled in his shirt. "He can't possibly resist you, looking like this."

Tony opened his mouth to protest, but Danielle once again cut him off.

"The cab will be here in fifteen minutes. Go finish your water and brush your teeth. Wouldn't want to smell like alcohol whilst confessing your love, now would you?"

Tony felt his eyebrows twitch in irritation. "Mom. I'm not going." He emphasized each word clearly.

Danielle's face contorted into frustrated anger. "If you think for one moment that I will sit here and let you lose out on such an important moment, you are fooling yourself."

Tony was surprised by the strength of her anger and vindication.

"You have an opportunity here, Anthony. Not many people are brave enough to find real love. Most people settle for what is easy, or comfortable. You are in a position to gain something that will define what your life will become in the future. You can choose to be happy, Tony, or you can choose to let your opportunity go to waste. Either way it's your choice." Danielle gently grabbed Tony's chin in her hand. "I hope you choose the right one, darling. Your cab will be here soon."

Before Tony could even begin to formulate a reply, Danielle had exited his apartment. The latch made an echoing click in his empty apartment.

**LJG/TD**

Tony didn't really know what he was doing here. His cab hat left him standing in Gibbs' driveway several minutes ago, and Tony had yet to move.

This was crazy. Tony knew what would happen if he came here and did what his mother told him too. He knew he would end up hurting. But here he was, outside Gibbs' house just standing there like a creeper.

Tony studied his shoes as he tried to come up with a solid plan of action. He had his wallet and his phone on him. He could walk to a street corner and call for another cab. It may take a while for the cab to come pick him up but he could-.

"Are you gonna stand there all night, or were you planning on coming in?"

Tony was shocked out of his thought by a sudden voice. Tony whipped his head up to see Gibbs smirking amusedly at him from his doorway. When had he gotten there? This was the second time someone had snuck up on him that evening, he was slacking.

Tony cleared his throat awkwardly. "Oh, hey Boss. I was just-."

"Standing outside my house like a stalker?"

Tony winced at the pretty accurate statement.

"Mind if I come in Boss?"

Gibbs shrugged complacently and motioned Tony through his front door.

Tony walked in and hung up the coat he had grabbed hurriedly on his way out of his apartment. He trailed after Gibbs as they headed towards the basement, their usual hangout spot. Gibbs walked purposefully down the stairs towards his workbench.

Tony stopped on the fifth stair from the top and sat down, as per usual.

Gibbs selected a hand sander from his pile of tools and began to gently but surly sand away the ridges of his current project. Not a boat this time, but what appeared to be a wardrobe. It was beautifully carved with vines, and Tony could tell that his boss had put a lot of effort into the piece.

Tony watched Gibbs sand away for a long time before either of them spoke. Surprisingly, it was Gibbs who spoke first, for once.

"Thought you had a date, Dinozzo." Gibbs stated, bluntly.

Tony thought about lying. He did have a readymade story about his fake stalker. But Tony was tired, and he was already here. He thought he might as well tell the truth.

"No date, Boss. Unless you count a pack of beer as a date."

Gibbs snorted, and Tony took that to mean that he didn't.

Gibbs didn't do anything to encourage Tony to keep talking, but Tony felt that Gibbs wanted him to just the same.

"Haven't had a date in more than a while, Boss. Never really feels right anymore."

Gibbs grunted in acknowledgement and continued to sand.

It took Tony awhile to gather the courage to go on.

"Never really felt right to begin with, if I'm honest." Gibbs turned his head to look Tony in the eyes. Tony took this as encouragement to go on. "Don't get me wrong Boss, I like being with people. And the sex is great."

Gibbs snorted in amusement, and Tony smiled at him.

"But, I never really wanted it to last long. It's too much work, Boss. Trying to keep someone's attention while also trying to not let yours wander. Never really thought it was worth it."

Gibbs nodded in agreement. He set his sander down, and went over to his bench to grab his customary bottle of bourbon and poured some into two dusty jars. He sat down on the stair below Tony and handed him his glass.

Tony took a sip and winced as it burned its way down. "Thanks Boss." Gibbs nodded and sipped his own drink. "Anyway, I kind of feel like I've been wasting my time. I've always felt like I wanted to avoid commitment, but somehow casual has become so much harder."

Gibbs raised his eyebrow in disbelief.

"I mean it, Boss. Having to woo someone, getting past the first meeting boundaries and impressions. Having to fake being perfect and wanting more than just a fling. All the wining and dining and playing the part. It gets old really fast, Boss."

Gibbs waited patiently for him to continue.

"I just want something that's real," Tony blurted. "I want someone who knows me already. Someone who understands me, and who I understand too. I want to be comfortable, and happy, and I want it to be passionate and real!"

"That why you're here?" Gibbs asked, as he continued to sip his drink.

Tony blinked at the even tone. He decided it was time to risk it. "Boss, I'm in love with you!"

The world seemed to freeze for a moment as Tony had an internal panic attack. He thought for sure that his Boss was going to hit him, but the blow never came.

"That all?"

Tony stared incredulously at Gibbs. "Is that all? Gibbs did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah. So?"

Tony was floored by Gibbs' casual attitude towards his confession.

"So? So, I just admitted that I'm in love with you, and all you can say is _so_?"

"There's not much else to say." Gibbs shrugged. "I already knew."

"You knew?" Tony was becoming extremely angry at the turn this conversation was taking. "You-. How-?"

"Tony, I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who knows what to look for."

Tony deflated quickly at Gibbs' words. Was he really that obvious? Tony thought about all the times he had fought for Gibbs' attention. He remembered every time he had Gibbs' six, how he followed him around like a puppy. Hell, Gibbs only had to order him to live and he obeyed, and God-.

Tony was having a full blown panic attack now. "How come nobody ever said anything? Only I just figured it out myself and-."

Gibbs reached out and laid a placating hand on top of Tony's. "You didn't want to know. You weren't ready."

"Am I ready now?" Tony asked desperately.

"Ready enough to come to my house on Valentine's Day to admit it to me." Gibbs pulled Tony's hand into his, rubbing smooth circles on his hand.

Tony blinked at the strange action and came to a startling realization.

"Boss, either I'm hallucinating or I'm taking this completely the wrong way. Do you-?"

Gibbs gave Tony a look that spoke volumes about how obvious the answer is.

"But-" Tony choked a bit on his saliva. "But you never said anything."

"Neither did you," Gibbs shrugged easily. "You weren't ready to hear that either."

Tony felt his heart pump furiously in his chest. "Am I ready now?"

Gibbs smirked self-confidently, and smoothly leaned in to capture Tony's plump lips. "I would hope so," he whispered sensuously.

Tony shivered as Gibbs' breath caressed his lips. "Me too."

Gibbs pulled Tony against his side, and gripped his hip possessively. "Happy Valentine's Day, Dinozzo."

Tony laughed deliriously and laid his head on Gibbs' shoulder. "You should meet my Mom, Boss. I think you'd like her."

**A/N 2: **Aaaaaand scene. :D This was a lot of fun to write, and while I had originally meant for it to contain porn, it found a way to end on exactly the right note. And woah, look at that! First foray into NCIS and with a non-rare pairing! How status-quo of me! ;D

Leave a review! Even if it's just the word "like", I'll take what I can get. ;) Commenting boosts an author's spirits! I feel so much more inclined to write when given incentive. Maybe I'll write a little porny sequel/epilogue if this generates enough buzz. I'm hungry for love!


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